Speed-recorder



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

W. W. WYTHE.

SPEED RECORDER. No. 247,459. Patented Sept. 20,1881.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. W. WYTHE.

SPEED RECORDER.

No. 247,459. Patented Sept. 20,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

WILLIAM Vt. W'YTHE, OF OCEAN GROVE, NEW JERSEY.

' SPEED-RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,459, datedSeptember 20, 1881,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM W. WYTHE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Ocean Grove, in the county ofMonmouth and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Speed-Recorders for Railway-Trains, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention is designed as an improvement upon the machine patented tome July28, 1874, No. 153,470, and also patented February 24, 1875, No.173,251, for speed-recorders for railway-trains.

My invention relates, first, to the means by which the motion of thetrain is communicated to the roller or drum which receives the chart orrecord; and, secondly, to the mechanism for moving the pencil over theruled paper, whereby the diagonal lines produced are in the direction inwhich the train is moving, thus obviatin g confusion in reading therecord, all as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 an endelevation, of the mechanism for actuating the drum. Fig. 3 is a sectionof the car-axle, with the machinery for transmitting the motion; andFig. 4 is a plan of the entire recording part of the machine, lookingdownward, Fig. 5 being a partial elevation of the same.

In the several drawings similar letters refer to similar parts.

That part of my improvement which consists in the means of transmittingthe motions of the car-axle to the recording mechanism is clearly shownin Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

In Fig. 3, D is a section of the car-axle, upon which is bolted aneccentric or cam, h.

From any convenient part of the car-truck are suspended the rocking armsj j, to one extremity of which are pivoted the pawls t i. A disk, m m,is also attached'to the end of each arm, which presses upon ahemispherical disk of caoutchouc, which forms the side of an air-tightchamber, a n, which communicates with the recording-apparatus byflexible tubes 0 0, so that when the rubber disk is pushed in the aircontained in the chamber is compressed, but when the arm retracts theair is extended again by its elasticity. It will be readily seen thatwhen the axle moves in the (N0 model.)

direction of the arrow the chamber a will be operated, while the onlyeffect on the other side is to lift the pawl 1', no motionbeiugcommunicated to the chamber a. When the car is reversed the chambern is operated, while a is at rest, thus allowing the direction of thecar to be indicated by the recording mechanism.

Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively side and end elevations of the mechanismby which the compressed air from the chambers n it operates the drum A.

E E are air-chambers, connected by elastic tubes 0 o to the chambers a nbeneath the car, and covered with elastic diaphragms p p. Thesediaphragms are pressed by the disks 1' r on the extremity of levers s 8,upon the other end of which are pawls t t, engaging the wheel w, whichis the first of a train which connects with the drum A, and is designedto slow down the motion of the car to any convenient extent, so that thewheels constituting the train are in no way essential to the working ofthe machine, but may be varied according to the quantity of motiondesired in the drum A. The essential feature of this part of the machineis the wheel to, with the teeth so formed that while it may be operatedin either direction by the pawls t t it is prevented from being carriedtoo far by inertia by the spring 00. By this mechanism the pressure ofthe air in the chambers n a, through the tubes 0 0, distends the elasticdiaphragms p p, which re tract again when the pressure is removed, andoperates the wheel w and the entire train, and thus not only is everymovement of the car communicated to the drum, but the direction of themotion is also indicated, the drum r0 tating in one direction as the caradvances and in the other'on the backward motion of the car.

The other part of my improvement relates to the mechanism for moving thepencil over the ruled paper, and is clearly set forth in Fig. 4, whichgives a plan view of the complete ma chine.

A represents the drum or roller covered with the ruled chart, and B theclock-work for givin g movement to the pencil by the rack. These partsare common to the former machine patented to me, as before stated. Themanner of producing the reciprocating movement of the rack, however, isnovel, and is one of the parts which I wish particularly to specify.

0 is aspur-wheel riding loosely on the arbor of the center wheel of theclock and moving the rack, which is supported in a parallel plane aboveit by means of the pinion a,'which is of sufficient height to mesh withboth, and which is journaled in a suitable bracket near the periphery ofwheel 0. This bracket serves also as a guide for the rack-bar by meansof the idle-wheel a, which holds it in gear with the pinion a.

c is a wheel with two teeth diametrically opposite each other, which isrigidly secured to the said arbor of the center wheel of the clock, justabove wheel 0.

A detent, d, is pivoted to the upper surface of the loose wheel 0, and,by a suitable spring, is held in engagement with the teeth of the wheel0, until at every half-revolution of the shaft or arbor the outer end ofthe detent strikes against the pin 0, which is secured in the frame-workat a suitable point, and by its consequent oscillation it is disengagedfrom the pinion c.

fis a drum located above the pinion a, and containing aspiral spring,around which is to be wound a chain or cord, 9, the outer end of whichis fastened to a stud, g, on the rack-bar. The effect of this mechanismwill be obvious. While the detent engages a tooth of the wheel 0 therack will be carried forward by the movement of the clock, but whendisengaged by the pin 0 it will he suddenly retracted by the spring, sothat if the drum A is continuously in motion the pencil will describe asuccession of diagonal and perpendicular lines like sawteeth, thediagonal representing the varying movements of the car, and theperpendicular being drawn every half-hour, in order to bring the pencilto the bottom of the paper, that a continuous record in the samedirection may be made on the narrow strip of paper.

In the former machine the motion of the rack was a uniform reciprocatingone, so that the pencil drew diagonals from right to left and from leftto right, and it was ditficult to trace, after many lines were drawn,the direction, in which the car was moving. In the improved machine, ifthe car moves in one direction the diagonals (which alone areindicative) will be in the same direction, and thus prevent confusion oflines.

The foregoing description is sufficient to indicate the construction ofthe device, as also to describe the mode of its operation.

I am aware that prior to my invention compressed air has been used inconnection with speed-recorders by releasinga detent or escapement andpermitting movement to a train of wheels; but I am not aware of its useto produce the movement and also to indicate the direction of the primemover.

WVhat I therefore claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. In a speed-recorder, the combination of axle D, having eccentric h,rocking arms j j, having pawls 'i i and disks m m, and chambers 'IHL',substantially as shown and described, said chambers being adapted tooperate as set forth.

2. In a speed-recorder, the combination of chambers E E, levers s s,pawls t t, wheel w, and drum A, substantially as shown and described,whereby said drum may be rotated in either direction, as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. The combination of the loose spur-wheel O, the pinion c, rigidlysecured upon the same shaft therewith, the spring-operated dctent d, pine,pinion a, drum f, cord g, and the pencilcarryiug rack-bar,substantially as shown and described.

WILLIAM WV. IVYTHE.

Wi tnesses:

JENNIE L. WY'JHE, W. H. WYTHE.

